Meet Reichman University PhD Student Efrat Geller Nitzan

My name is Efrat Geller Nitzan and I am a doctoral student in the Juris Doctorate program at the Harry Radzyner School of Law. I am married to Ron and the mother of Yoav and Yuval.

I hold an LL.B. and an LL.M. from Reichman University. After several years of practical work in law and academia, I chose to return to the university for doctoral studies.

Shortly after completing my bachelor's degree, and in parallel with my work in the private market, I began working in the legal clinics at the university and serving as a teaching assistant for legal courses. Today, I am the director of the Clinic for the Promotion of the

Right to Health and the Clinic for Housing Rights and Urban Development at the University. In addition, I am a lecturer in a course in legal writing and critical thinking at the university. What I love most about my work at the university is the ability to make an impact, to help populations that need it, and to create real change. In addition to ongoing and fascinating work with students and the ability to expose them to the significant power they already have as lawyers. In my Ph.D. studies, I am further establishing these skills through in-depth research. I am doing my doctoral dissertation on the subject of "Occupational Rehabilitation of Mentally Challenged People in Israel" under the supervision of Prof. Sharon Rabin Margaliot. As part of my research, I focus on the occupational rehabilitation of people with mental illness in Israel from a multidisciplinary approach that combines legislative, ruling, and public aspects. The purpose of this study is to examine the legal status of people with mental illness in the labor market in Israel, to analyze their struggles in the framework of their work, and to identify failures and barriers that prevent optimal integration. Through qualitative research, the study aims to present innovative proposals to improve the employment integration of people with mental illness. The great uniqueness of my doctorate is my ability to combine worlds that I love – research and practice.

For over a decade now, Reichman University has been much more than an educational institution for me. I knew, as soon as it was possible, that I would do my Ph.D. at the university. There is no substitute for the human resources, the study environment, the organizational climate, and the development possibilities that exist within it.